Prince George is lending many hands to help fight wildfires out east.
The 19-person Firehawks unit crew left Saturday for northwestern Ontario as part of a nearly 100-person deployment from the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch to battle the forest fires that continue to incinerate the region.
This is the first time the Firehawks have been sent to Ontario, said Prince George Fire Centre information officer Jill Chimko. They were also involved in efforts to subdue the Slave Lake, Alta. fire in May.
The local firefighters join four other unit crews from the Cariboo and Northwest Fire Centres in their two-week deployment and will link up with the 125 other B.C. personnel currently in Ontario, for a total provincial representation of 222. They replace a group of 99 people who returned to the province on Friday.
Since July 11, B.C. has sent 855 personnel out east to assist Ontario teams with a challenging fire season.
"It's been a great year for us to be able to help out other provinces and surrounding areas," said Chimko.
This is due to the cool, wet summer most of the province has experienced, prompting a very slow start to the local fire season.
"It's the slowest start we've seen in at least a decade," said Radha Fisher, fire information officer for the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch.
Despite the fire situation being currently calm on the western front, the fire agency remains vigilant and can recall the B.C. crews back home at any time if the situation here changes.
"We are happy to continue lending a hand to other provinces, but we always make sure that there are enough people in B.C. to manage our own wildfire situation," said Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson in a release.
Even though the weather has been warmer in recent days, there hasn't been the prolonged dry spell to prompt fire danger, Chimko explained.
However, the potential for fire is there as long as it's hot and dry outside, which could happen over the remainder of the summer.
"We're always prepared," Fisher said.
